THE DEMOCRATIC MESS IN MAINE. Can Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, survive his sexting scandal? The first thing to know is how little we know about it.We know from a Wall Street Journal account that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, who married Platner in November 2023 and who in the spring of 2025 discovered the sexual texts he sent to “several” women, told his campaign about the texts not long after he announced his candidacy in August 2025. So this is not some long-ago matter.Beyond that, we don’t know much. We do not know how many women were involved. We do not know what Platner said in the texts; not a single text has been quoted anywhere in media accounts. And we do not know what the recipients of the texts have to say about it. What was their reaction to receiving sexually explicit messages from the recently married Platner?
We do know that in January, in the midst of scandals over Platner’s Nazi tattoo and ugly Reddit postings, CNN’s Manu Raju asked Platner whether there were “other skeletons” in his closet that could become problems in the future. “No,” said Platner. “My life is not very complicated. And there’s not anything else coming.” We now know that wasn’t true.
